Dollar posts worst two-day loss vs yen in eight months

The dollar fell to a three week-low against the yen on Tuesday, retracing most of its gains posted following last week's robust U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, but the decline came as no surprise after five straight weeks of rises.

The dollar on Tuesday posted its worst two-day loss versus the yen since February. The greenback extended losses after New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said he was less confident that labor market participation will rebound. He added that a stronger dollar could further dampen inflationary pressures.

Yen gains were also boosted by remarks from Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who told a news conference there was no need to adjust monetary policy if the Bank of Japan's 2 percent inflation goal can be met in the middle of the financial year starting next April. As a result, the yen not only rose against the dollar but also hit a one-month high versus the euro.

The euro was also undermined by a report showing a 4.0 percent month-on-month drop in German industrial output, falling far below a forecast of a 1.5 percent fall. It was the biggest drop since January 2009. That bolstered bets that the European Central Bank will need to inject more stimulus to help the euro zone economy.

In late trading, the greenback was down 0.7 percent against the yen at 107.95 yen after reaching a six-year peak of 110.08 last Wednesday. Earlier, it hit a three-week low of 107.83.

Against the dollar, the euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.2675, nearly 1.5 cents above a two-year low struck last week.

The euro zone's prospects remain dour. The International Monetary Fund warned there is about a 30 percent chance the region might fall into deflation this year as the group downgraded its global economic outlook.

The IMF also lowered its view on Japan but boosted its call on U.S. economic growth this year to 2.2 percent from 1.7 percent three months ago.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, extended Monday's dramatic drop, which was its biggest one-day decline since January. The index fell 0.4 percent to 85.577 after rising to a four-year high on Friday.